Whichever direction you choose to knit your socks, I think the biggest problem knitters new to socks have is getting hung up on a pattern - the pattern is confusing to them or something else gets in the way.

This is so true. I made my first socks with the simplest method I could manage (toe up, worsted yarn, Sweet Tomato Heel). It seemed to me that even unfamiliar terms like instep and gusset were scary Meaning, that the learning curve would be too steep to enjoy it.

I have a beautiful skein of Handmaiden SeaWool that I bought for a shawl or a scarf. Now, I need a pattern (arg!) I spent hours on Ravelry just to learn that I still dislike them. And it's not like I am happy with it, either. I can read them, I understand them, I can even write them. But follow? Nope.

Also, I never swatch. Ever. That is another reason I like 'recipes' that just explain how to do the shaping. And as far as plain socks go, your previous sock is your swatch -- it's not going to be all that different.

I looked into the Lifestyle Toe up socks and I will give it a try with the next pair. Stay tuned

Olha, lest I gave the wrong impression, I don't think my way is the way to knit socks. Having actually knitted wearable socks I figured why mess with success and stuck with the way I did it the first time. I'd like to know what you think of the toe up way of knitting them. I can summarize it for you: cast on for the toe, increase to fit comfortably around the foot, knit until you're ready to do the heel, turn the heel, knit the leg. That's it. I am curious which cast on you choose. I use Judy's magic CO because I got it and learning something different doesn't always appeal. I should amend that, I've also used Turkish and Fig. 8 COs but keep reverting to the one I used originally.

__________________~ GG

Cheating is an option. . . . Cheaters never win and winners never cheat, but smart knitters who want to retain an iota of sanity do, cheerfully. ~~Kory Stamper

No worries I also don't fix what ain't broken I think this is a very good guide when you don't have a reference point (swatch or previous experience with a certain yarn). I looked at the guide and the short row heel tutorial, and they seem to be very clear. I will try to use M1 to compensate for k2tog.